Monthly Archives: March 2009

By a vote of 17 to 7, the House Appropriations Committee has given a favorable vote to a bill allowing the Maryland Stadium Authority to study the feasibility and economic cost of building a soccer stadium in Prince George’s County for D.C. United. But first committee members further amended the bill to reconfirm–really, truly, they mean it– that nothing in the measure would obligate the state to spend a dime more than the study nor commit the state to ultimately building the stadium.

It is not yet clear if the full House intends to attempt to take the bill up twice before the end of the day, as would be necessary for the body to give approval to the bill before tonight’s crossover deadline. After tonight, bills that pass one chamber are not guaranteed a hearing before the other chamber. D.C. United President Kevin Payne said he believes the study, which Stadium Authority officials estimated would cost $150,000 to $200,000, is a good idea. “We hope everyone will agree it makes sense to spend a little time to find out if it makes sense. That’s all we ask.”

This is great news, but it is only the first step. There’s a lot of work to go still. The next thing we need to focus on is call Prince George’s County Council. Vamos United!

House Bill 1282 will be voted on tomorrow, Monday March 30th, at 11am! Start calling the House Appropriations Committee and tell them you support the bill and United in Prince George’s County! Click here for the list of who to call.

We were so close to taking the opener in LA, but at least we got outta there with the tie and a point. There’s another chance for a W this Saturday when we take on the Chicago Fire at RFK.

When you go to the game on Saturday, take a look around. As much as we all love RFK, it really is beginning to show it’s age. You all have done an amazing job so far, but we need to continue our efforts to let our elected officials know that we support a new stadium in Prince George’s County.

Thank you all very much for coming to the rally yesterday! We had a great time, and the march up the hill was the talk of the town. We’re editing some footage and should have a short video clip up later today. Thanks again!

Big news. As you know, there is a hearing next Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day, on HB 1282, the legislation that would enable United to build their new soccer stadium in Maryland. We need to show our support of this bill, so we are hosting a huge rally in the backyard of our state lawmakers. We want them to hear our collective voice and we want you to join us. The rally will be at noon at Annapolis City Dock, which is the harbor front park at the end of the boardwalk in downtown, Annapolis. See map below.

Based on this article in Saturday’s Washington Post, some state lawmakers are questioning the need for HB 1282 to be approved this year. We can’t stress enough how harmful this will be to our stadium efforts should they succeed in delaying the process. There’s simply too much at stake for the future of our beloved team.

Below is an email list of the Prince George’s County Delegation/Appropriations Committee. Copy and paste it into the “To” section of a new email. It will send your message of support to all of them. Tell them 2 things:

1.) You strongly support the new stadium; and

2.) You want it to happen this year. Our elected officials need to hear from you!